In Zillow's 2026 paint color survey, buyers said they would pay the most for a chocolate brown bedroom, a pale blue or charcoal gray living room, and a charcoal gray kitchen, compared with the same rooms painted white. They marked homes down for ochre yellow and for pale pink in kitchens and bathrooms. These are survey results about what buyers said, not sale prices, so test any color in your own light before you commit.
What did Zillow's 2026 paint color survey find?
Zillow's behavioral science team surveyed more than 4,400 recent and prospective home buyers across the country. Each buyer saw images of a home with a room painted in one of 11 colors, then rated how much they liked it, whether they would tour it, and what they would pay for it. Zillow published the results on June 16, 2026.
The headline: white is safe, but it is not always the strongest choice.
White will always be a timeless, versatile choice, but sellers who default to all-white walls everywhere may be leaving money on the table.
Which colors did buyers favor, room by room?
- Room
- Bedroom
- Colors buyers favored
- Chocolate brown (about $2,277 more), charcoal gray (about $1,240 more), sage green (about $1,035 more)
- Colors buyers marked down
- Ochre yellow
- Room
- Living room
- Colors buyers favored
- Pale blue (about $1,723 more), charcoal gray (about $1,509 more), sage green (nearly $500 more)
- Colors buyers marked down
- Ochre yellow
- Room
- Kitchen
- Colors buyers favored
- Charcoal gray (about $1,373 more), dark plum (about $867 more)
- Colors buyers marked down
- Ochre yellow (about $6,630 less), pale pink (about $4,201 less)
- Room
- Bathroom
- Colors buyers favored
- Sage green (among the top performers)
- Colors buyers marked down
- Bright red (nearly $8,000 less), pale pink (about $6,013 less)
| Room | Colors buyers favored | Colors buyers marked down |
|---|---|---|
| Bedroom | Chocolate brown (about $2,277 more), charcoal gray (about $1,240 more), sage green (about $1,035 more) | Ochre yellow |
| Living room | Pale blue (about $1,723 more), charcoal gray (about $1,509 more), sage green (nearly $500 more) | Ochre yellow |
| Kitchen | Charcoal gray (about $1,373 more), dark plum (about $867 more) | Ochre yellow (about $6,630 less), pale pink (about $4,201 less) |
| Bathroom | Sage green (among the top performers) | Bright red (nearly $8,000 less), pale pink (about $6,013 less) |
Ochre yellow was the clear loser. Painted in the kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom together, Zillow estimated it at $18,164 less than the same rooms in white.
Pendleton also put the upside in one figure: a seller who repainted each room in its top-performing color could add more than $5,000, by the survey's estimate. Read that as what buyers in a survey said they would pay, not a number an appraiser will write down.
Why might these colors work for buyers?
Zillow's release does not say why, so here is a practical reading rather than a finding. Earthy, darker colors such as chocolate brown and charcoal look chosen rather than left over, and they give white trim and furniture something to stand against. Soft blues and sage greens stay calm in both daylight and lamplight. The colors that tested poorly, ochre and pale pink, tend to read as one owner's taste, which is exactly what a buyer has to picture painting over.
How should you test a color before painting a whole room?
A chip under store lighting tells you little about your own living room in November. Benjamin Moore's sampling advice is simple and worth following:
- Brush out at least two coats of the sample, because one coat does not show the true color.
- Paint a sample area about two feet by two feet. An 8-ounce sample covers roughly one two-coat area that size.
- Look at it from morning to evening, in natural light and under your own lamps.
- Test it on more than one wall. A north-facing room and a south-facing room can make one color look like two different paints.
- Sample in the sheen you plan to use, since a flat finish and an eggshell finish of the same color can read differently.
- Hold the sample next to the things that are staying, such as the floors, the countertops and the trim.
If you are choosing between two close colors, paint both samples side by side on the same wall. The difference that matters is the one you can see from across the room, not from a foot away.
New Hampshire light changes a lot by season. A color picked in bright June light can look heavier on a gray January afternoon, and homes go on the market in every month. That is why our color consultations use real paint drawdowns on your walls rather than small chips.
Should you follow the survey or your agent?
Both, in that order of detail. Zillow itself advises sellers to talk with a local agent about what buyers in their neighborhood want before repainting. A charcoal kitchen may suit a renovated colonial and look out of place in a modest ranch. Your agent knows the comparable listings; the survey tells you how buyers in general reacted.
What about the rest of the house?
Not every room needs a statement. Keep hallways, ceilings and trim consistent and clean so the rooms flow into one another. Put the stronger, tested colors where the survey found buyers cared most: the bedroom, the living room and the kitchen.
If the current walls are a bold color that tested poorly, repainting that room may matter more than finding the perfect new shade. Our guide to repainting before you list covers which rooms to do first and how to plan the work around the listing photos.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best paint color to sell a house in 2026?
- In Zillow's 2026 survey, buyers favored a chocolate brown bedroom, a pale blue or charcoal gray living room and a charcoal gray kitchen over the same rooms in white. Check with your listing agent about what suits your neighborhood.
- What paint colors can hurt a home's sale?
- In the same survey, buyers marked down ochre yellow, and pale pink in kitchens and bathrooms. A bright red bathroom was marked down by nearly $8,000 compared with white.
- Is white still a safe color for selling?
- Yes. White is a safe, versatile choice. Zillow's survey found that some soft colors outperformed it in certain rooms, so white everywhere may not be the strongest option.
- How big should a paint sample be?
- Benjamin Moore suggests brushing out at least two coats over an area about two feet by two feet, then checking it from morning to evening in natural and artificial light.
